Door for runway-openings.



J. J. LIGHTER.

DOOR FOR RUNWAY OPENNGS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 4, 1910.

QL2Q@ Patented June 14, 11910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET v1.

J. J. LIGHTER.

ADOOR FOR BUNWAY OPENINGS.

APPLICATION ELLLD MAR. 4. 1910.

Patentez 51111914.1910.

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3S FATFNT OFFICE.

JOHN J. LIGHTER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

DOOR FOR RUNWAY-OPENINGS.

Application led March 4, 1910.

To all whom Lt may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN J. LIGHTER, a citizen of the United States,residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Doors for Runway-Openings, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to doors that are used for closing runwayopenings, namely, openings through which crane runways pass.

Runway openings are usually very large and it has heretofore been thegeneral practice to use a number of hinged doors or doors composed ofsections for closing said openings so that the doors could be opened orclosed in high winds. Such structures are not only costly and unsightlybut they are cumbersome to operate and are hard to keep tight on accountof the number of joints or openings in same.

One object of my invention is to provide a closure for a runway openingwhich can be operated easily in a high wind.

Another object is to provide a closure for the purpose described thatdoes not detract from the appearance of the building and which issubstantial and tight.

Another object of my invention is to provide a door for a runway openingwhich is so designed that it will not be in the way of the workmen orobstruct any portion of the runway opening when the cranes which travelthrough said opening are in use.

Other objects and desirable features of my invention will be hereinafterpointed out.

Briefly described, my improved closure consists of a door, preferably, aflexible metal door that is adapted to be wound up into roll form on ashaft, and means for bodily moving said door toward and away from thebuilding in which the runway opening is formed so as to permit the craneor cranes to be run through said opening into and out of the building.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a front elevational view of a portion of theside wall of a building equipped with a closure constructed inaccordance with my invention, the crane runways being shown in section.Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on approximately the line 2-2of Fig. l; Fig. 3 is an enlarged top plan view of the carriage on whichthe door is mounted, por- Specilication of Letters Patent.

Patented J une 14, 1910.

Serial No. 547,307.

tions of the housings on said carriage being broken away to more clearlyillustrate the construction of the carriage and the means for operatingsame, Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on approximately theline 4 4 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken onapproximately the line 5 5 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate the preferred form of myinvention, A designates a pair of crane runways that pass through anopening formed in the side wall of a building. Said runways are lo-.cated adjacent the upper edge of the opening, and they projectoutwardly from the building, as shown in Fig. 2, so that the cranes, notshown, which travel on said runways can be utilized for carrying objectsinto or out of the building, for example, 0bjects that are to beunloaded from cars which travel on tracks l that extend alongside of thebuilding, as shown in Fig. 2. The particular construction of the runwaysA is immaterial, so far as my broad idea is concerned, but I prefer touse commercially rolled I-beams for said runways arranged with theirwebs in a vertical position so that the bottom flanges of same can beused for tracks on which the door-carriage of my improved closure cantravel. Said door-carriage can be built in various ways but I prefer toconstruct it in the manner herein shown 4as I have found that a carriageof this construction is strong and light and easy to operate. Saidcarriage comprises a continuous member 2, preferably acommerciallyrolled channel, that extends transversely of the runwayopening underneath the runways A, a member 3 of equal length, preferablya rolled channel arranged with its web in a vertical plane and its legsor flanges projecting outwardly, and a plurality of web plates 4arranged at right angles to the members 2 and 3 and securely connectedto same. These web plates 4 extend parallel to the runways A, andportions of same are in the same level or lie in the same horizontalplane as the runways so that they can be utilized as bearings for thewheel shafts or axles of the carriage, and for the shafts of theoperating mechanism for the carriage. In the construction herein shown apair of these web plates 4 are arranged at approximately the center ofthe carriage, as shown in broken lines in Fig. l and in full lines inFig. 3. Two other pairs are arranged adjacent the runways, the plates ofeach pair lying on opposite sides of the runway, as shown in Fig. 3, andtwo other plates form the end walls of the carriage.

A cover or hood 5, which extends over the web plates 4, forms the topand rear wall of a housing which protects the operating mechanismhereinafter described, and also serves to tie said web plates together,and additional tie members 6 and 7 are connected to the front ends ofsaid web plates so as to impart the requisite stiffness to the carriage.The tie members 6 form the front wall of the housing just referred to,and said members preferably consist of a long channel that extendsbetween the two runways A and two short channels that extend betweensaid runways and the end plates 4 of the carriage. The tie members 7consist of pieces of angle iron of the same length as the member 6 andarranged at the upper edge of the front end of the carriage so as toform a stop which coperates with the front wall of the building to limitthe inward movement of the carriage, as shown in'Figs. 4 and 5, thefront edge of the hood 5 being interposed between t-he tie members 6 and7. The hood 5 is, of course, provided with suitable slots or openingsfor receiving the runways A, and the tie plates 4 are provided withflanges for receiving the fastening devices that connect said plates tothe members with which they coperate to form the carriage.

The roller door B which is mounted on the carriage, may be of anypreferred type or design, and the shaft 8 onto which it is wound ismounted in bearings that are connected to the carriage, the shaft 8being rotated to raise and lower the door by means of an operatingmechanism 9. The continuous members 2 and 3 of the carriage which arearranged under the runways, form the top and front walls, respectively,of a housing for the door, and the remainder of said housing is formedby plates 10 and 11 whose lower edges are spaced away from each other,as shown in Fig. 4, so as to form a slot through which the door canpass.

The carriage projects into the building through the runway opening whenthe door is closed so as not to detract from the appearance of thebuilding, and as said carriage extends the entire width of the runwayopening, it acts as a closure for the upper part of the opening. Thebuilding is provided with guides 12 which receive the side edges of thedoor and thus prevent the door from swaying, the upper ends of saidguides being flared, as shown in Fig. 4, so as to cause the door toproperly enter same. The carriage is provided with a pair of long wheelshafts or axles 13 that extend from runway to runway, and also two pairsof short shafts or auxiliary shafts 14 which extend from the runways tothe end walls of the carriage, all of said shafts being journaled in theweb plates 4 of the carriage. The long shafts 13 are provided at theiropposite ends with wheels or rollers 18a and the short shafts orauxiliary shafts 14 are provided at their inner ends with rollers 14,all of said rollers traveling on the bottom flanges of the runways. 1Vhile it is not absolutely necessary to provide the carriage with theseauxiliary shafts and rollers, still it is preferable to construct it inthis manner so as to more equally distribute the weight of the carriageon the runways and prevent the runways from spreading apart.

The cranes, not shown, which travel on the runways can be used formoving the carriage away from the building and returning it to thebuilding but I prefer to provide the carriage with means for propellingthe wheels or rollers 13 so as to produce a complete self-containedstructure.

Referring to Figs. 3 to 5 which illustrate one means that can be usedfor operating the carriage, 15 designates a horizontally disposed shaftjournaled in some of the web plates of the carriage and provided at itsouter end with a sprocket wheel 1G over which a chain 17 travels, and atits inner end with a gear 18 that is arranged between the pair of webplates 4 at the center of the carriage. This gear 1S meshes with a gear19 on one of the wheel shafts 13 of the carriage, and said gear 19meshes with an idle gear 2O that meshes with a gear 21 on the otherwheel shaft so as to cause both wheel shafts to rotate when theoperating shaft 15 is turned.

lVhen it is desired to open the door, the workman operates the mechanism9 which turns the door shaft 8 so as to wind the door onto said shaft.He then turns the shaft 15 by means of the chain 17 so as to cause thecarriage to travel outwardly on the crane runways A into the positionshown in broken lines in Fig. 2. The cranes which travel on said runwayscan now be run into and out ofthe building without interfering with thedoor which is arranged in such a position that it is completely out ofthe way of vthe workman. Then it is desired to close the door, thecarriage is returned to its former position by operating the chain 17and the door is then lowered by means of the operating mechansm 9.

A closure of the constructon above referred to can be operated easily byone workman even in high winds, and it is strong and forms a tightclosure for the runway opening owing to the fact that the major portionthereof consists of a single member, namely, the flexible door B. Thefact that a track is not required for the bottom of the door makes it adecided improvement upon a laterally sliding door because a track orrail at the lower edge of a runway opening continually requiresattention.

lVhile I have herein stated that the carriage is provided with a metalroller door I do not wish it to be understood that my invention islimited to such a structure for it is immaterial, so far as my broadidea is concerned, whether the carriage is provided with a rigid door ora flexible door that can be wound up into roll form, my inventionconsisting broadly in a carriage that is adapted to be moved at an angleto the wall in which the door opening is formed, and a door mounted onsaid carriage. Furthermore, while I have herein referred to the carriageas being moved outwardly away from the building after the door has beenraised or opened, it will, of course, be obvious that the carriage couldbe so designed that it could be run inwardly or farther into thebuilding so as to get it out of the way of the cranes.

A closure of the type herein shown is primarily intended for runwayopenings but it could, of course, be used for closing openings notprovided with runways, the tracks on which the carriage travels beingused solely for supporting' the carriage.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. Means for closing a runway opening, comprising a door, and a carriagefor supporting said door and adapted to be moved toward and away fromthe wall in which said opening is formed.

2. A closure for an opening through which elevated tracks pass,comprising a carriage that is adapted to travel on said tracks, and adoor mounted on said carriage.

3. A closure for an opening through which elevated rails pass,consisting of a carriage that closes the upper part of said opening andwhich is adapted to be moved toward and away from the wall in which saidopening is formed, and a roller door on said carriage that forms aclosure for the remainder of said opening.

4. A closure for an opening through which elevated rails pass,comprising a carriage that is adapted to travel on said rails toward andfrom the wall in which the opening is formed, means for operating saidcarriage, and a flexible roller door mounted on said carriage.

5. A closure for a runway opening, comprising a carriage provided withwheels that travel on said runways, and a flexible roller door supportedby said carriage.

6. A closure for a runway opening, comprising a carriage that is adaptedto close the upper portion of said opening, a liexible roller doormounted on said carriage, and means for moving said carriagelongitudinally of said runways.

7. A closure for a crane runway opening, comprising a carriage providedwith wheels that travel on said runways, a flexible roller door mountedon said carriage, and means fo-r turning said wheels so as to cause thecarriage to move toward and away from the building in which the openingis formed.

8. In a structure of the character' described, runways that projectoutwardly from the wall of a building, a carriage on said runways thatis adapted to enter said building, a flexible roller door mounted onsaid carriage, and guides on the building for receiving the side edgeportions of said door.

9. A door carriage provided with a frame, rollers or wheels on saidframe that are adapted to travel on a track, and a flexible roller doorsupported on said carriage.

10. A door carriage provided with a frame, rollers or wheels on saidframe that are adapted to travel on a track, a flexible roller doormounted on said carriage, and means for propelling said carriagelongitudinally of said track.

11. A carriage for the purpose described, consisting of a plurality ofweb plates, means for connecting said plates together, rollers or wheelson said carriage that are adapted to travel on a track, and a flexibledoor suspended from said carriage and arranged under said track.

12. A carriage for the purpose described, comprising a frame providedwith wheels or rollers which are adapted to travel on a track, a housingor cover for said frame, a flexible roller door suspended from saidframe, and a housing for said door.

13. A carriage for the purpose described, comprising a plurality of webplates that extend parallel to the track on which the carriage travels,wheel shafts journaled in said web plates, a continuous tie memberconnected to said web plates and arranged under said track, and aflexible roller door mounted on said carriage.

14:. A carriage for the purpose described, comprising a plurality of webplates arranged parallel to the runways or tracks on which the carriagetravels, a cover or housing connected to said web plates, shafts journaled in said web plates and provided with wheels that travel on therunways, continuous members connected to said web plates and arrangedunder the runways, and a plate that coperates with said continuousmembers to form a roller door.

15. A carriage for the purpose described, provided intermediate its endswith openings or slots for receiving rails or runways, wheels on saidcarriage that travel on said runways, and a flexible roller doormountedon said carriage and arranged under said runways.

16. In a structure of the character dehousing for a flexible scribed, acarriage provided intermediate its ends with openings or passageways,rails or runways arranged in said passageways, rollers on said carriagearranged on opposite sides of said runways, and a flexible doorsuspended from said carriage underneath said runways.

17. A carriage for the purpose described, comprising a frame thatconsists of a plurality of web plates and tie members for Connectingsaid plates together, shafts journaled in said plates and provided withtrack-engaging wheels or rollers, an operating shaft Journaled in saidweb plates, means for transmitting movement from said operating shaft tosaid wheel shafts, and a liexible JOHN J. LCHTER.

Witnesses:

WELLS L. CHURCH, GEORGE BAKEWELL.

